Happy Hallowe'en

I've come to realize in the last few days that a lot of people don't know where Hallowe'en came from.  So here are some "FUN" FACTS for one and all:


1.  Hallowe'en is believed to have first orginated from the Celtic harvest festival Samhain, in Ireland. 
2.  Samhain represented the end of the season of light, and the beginning of the season of darkness.
3.  It was believed that the border between our world and the spririt world was at it's thinnest, resulting in visitations from spirits of both persuasions.  The harmful ones were warded off with carved Jack-o-lantern turnips and costumes that mimicked them.
4.  Bonfires are still considered a part of Hallowe'en in some places.
5.  Going door to door asking for candy is thought to have come from the practice of "souling" on November first, where poor people would beg for food in return for prayers for the dead (on All Saints Day).


Hallowe'en is a holiday that I always looked forward to as a kid.  I knew the family rules..  no witch, ghost, or devil costumes, but I was more interested in other things, anyway.
My mother was especially good at making costumes for us.  One year she made my sister into a blue jay, giant bird feet included.  She could hardly walk in it, but it won her first prize in her class.
Another time I had an interesting costume.. 
Here's a picture:

I'm the one on the bottom left in red and white.  I'm also facing backwards for some reason, so it's difficult to tell.  Can you guess?  No?  I was a tube of Colgate!  Why?  I have no idea!  I don't recall asking for this costume, but looking back it was pretty neat..  and also difficult to walk in due to the wire clothes hanger in the bottom of it.  I don't think I won a prize for this one, either.  That's my mother in the back.  She's the mime in black and white.

Even as an adult, I love dressing up on Hallowe'en.  It's still fun to dress up and be whatever you want to be for one evening.  And the candy helps.  This year is a wash because of it being on a Sunday night, but there's always next year!

Spooky!

Funny story about my husband's lab coat in this picture.  We got ready at my parent's house and he wanted to splash fake blood on the jacket (he was going to be a zombie doctor).  I told him that the only good place to do that would be in the shower or outside.  Since it was dark and cold outside, he chose the bathroom.  We were in a hurry so we ran out the door with the jacket still damp.  A little while later my mother called and said thanks for almost giving her a heart attack when she went to take a shower..  I can always count on him to forget little things like not leaving the bathroom looking like a crime scene!

My doggies

I'm an animal person.  I've always been one.  This is probably because my parents always gave me pets when I was younger.  I've had almost every rodent there is, a variety of birds, cats, and dogs.  (I have not owned any reptiles, however..  maybe because they don't seem very cuddly).

I currently have 2 rats and 2 dogs.  Unfortunately, my dogs live with my parents and sister.  Since they are family pets, I couldn't exactly take them with me when I got married.  Soooo, I have visiting rights.  My hubby and I sometimes come by on a Saturday to pick them up.  They love car rides, so they are very excited when I ask them if they want to come.  Then we'll take them to the petstore, the dog park, or a friend's house.  They aren't too fond of the last one, unfortunately.  My friends have a 4 1/2 month old chocolate lab who was very fond of biting and barking in the beginning, which my middle-aged dogs didn't find too amusing.  My Jack Russell, Gus, has now developed a dislike of all chocolate labs as a result, which makes him kind of racist (oops!)

My Poodle-Chihuahua mix, Charlie, is the older of the two.  He's the mastermind of the operation.  Gus is Pinky and Charlie is definitely the Brain.  If there is some scheming underway, it's always Charlie who is doing it.  He's highly intelligent, and can think out plans from A to Z.  He's never cold because he covers himself with his blankets, only comes if there's something in it for him, and manipulates everyone around him (especially Gus).  But he's a softie, so he gets off with it.

 Charlie Barley

Gus, on the other hand, is a little slow.  We took him to the vet when we got him, and asked her point blank if he was okay.  She told us that there was a chance that he suffered from a lack of oxygen during birth, but not to worry, because he makes up for it in enthusiasm and love.  That pretty much sums him up..  Slow-witted, Enthusiastic, and Loving.  We got him because of Charlie's fear of life in general, hoping that Gus' rambunctiousness would rub off.  And it has!  With the unfortunate side effect of Gus becoming slightly Chihuahua during the transition.

 Gus "I'm gonna be BAD"

They're loads of fun.  Everyone should have at least one dog to spoil :)

 Scheming & Plotting

Condolences

I used to chat with a bunch of people online when I was back in high school.  They were all from various churches, and we all knew someone who knew the other person (that makes sense, doesn't it??  It's like 6 degrees of separation except more like 2 degrees)

Anyway, there was this one guy that I chatted with who lived in New Brunswick.  Being a Newfoundlander, it was easy to hit it off.  A bunch of us would all chat together in this really old-school homemade chatroom called the Chatterbox.

As time went by, we fell out of communication.  He ended up moving to Newfoundland and attended the same church as my grandparents.  They thought he was the nicest young man, and were always at him to find a wife to match him.  (grandparents do this, if you must know)  Well, this summer he got married.  I saw the pictures come up on my Facebook news-feed and I thought, "good for him".  They looked very happy and all was well.

Fast forward to today.  I got a phone call from my mother telling me that his 24 year old wife had died suddenly of a seizure 1 day before her 25th birthday.

...

That is just scary.  And sad.  And hard to understand.

..

I can't imagine losing my husband.  And I can't imagine if I had lost my husband 4 months after marrying him.  Especially when this guy seemingly waited so long to find the right woman..  and to have her taken away so young and suddenly.

I feel for him.. and I can't even guess how he is feeling today.

source

An orange wonderland

I went to the dog park today with my pups, mother, and sister.  It was loads of fun :)  Because all the trees are changing, the forest was an orange wonderland.

Charlie & Gus are always willing to pose for pictures :)

Hazzy's Photoshoot

Did you know...?

In Korea, I did a photoshoot of sorts right after I first arrived.  Some guys from the church went out for an evening with myself and a girl we all knew.  We were walking in the fashion/shopping district of Busan and there was a huge bus sitting in front of a clothing store called Hazzy's.  They invited us in for a free photoshoot..  so we said yes :)  Wouldn't you??

It was fun :)  And that's my husband in the middle back..  but I didn't know he'd be my husband at the time.  And I'm 100% positive he didn't either.. haha.

Horseback riding vs. ATV'ing

As a little girl, I had an obsession with horses.  I should rephrase that..  I think I still have that obsession.

I remember begging and begging my parents to be allowed to take riding lessons.  Unfortunately, due to a run-in with cancer as a toddler, my doctors had expressly forbade activities which could lead to major falls or blows.  Horseback riding in particular was on the list. 
I don't recall fully understanding the gravity of the situation.  So I'm sure I must have drove my parents crazy.  I remember many trips to petting zoos, as well as an extensive collection of My Little Ponys.  I'm sure now that they were trying to placate me.

As an adult, I finally understand why I'm to be careful...  but I still don't want to.  I want to take riding lessons!  And I want to learn a martial art!  I do have the sense, however, to realize that this is probably just a feeling of "the grass is greener on the other side" syndrome.

When I was in Korea, I got married.  And for our honeymoon we went to Jeju Island.  Our tour offered stops where we could choose out of a couple activities.  One of these choices was between ATV'ing and Horseback riding.  My husband immediately voted ATV'ing.  Now I love ATV'ing.  Having spent part of my childhood in Newfoundland, I had a bit of experience with that.  And my parents (being protective) rarely allowed me to drive.  So I wanted to vote for ATV'ing.  BUT..  why was it up against horseback riding??  My childhood dream vs. my need for speed.  I bugged my hubby enough that he finally asked the tour guide if we could do both..  and threw in that it was our honeymoon.  After a quick vote on the bus, everyone said we could take the extra time.  (yay!)

We went for the horses first.  It was a little bit of a letdown, to be quite honest.  The mares were saddled up and waiting, and they were as wide as they were long.  Considering they had foals following them around, I'd say they recently had babies, or were again pregnant.  I could barely coax a trot out of mine at first..  it didn't speak English, nor did it seem to care for more than a slow, meandering walk.  I finally got it to go a bit faster, whereas it started bolting in the other direction, leaving Eric to fend for himself. 

That over, we went over to go ATV'ing.  The man said that he'd go slow so we'd have no problems.  I told my husband to tell him that I wanted to go fast.  He was a little flabbergasted, but agreed.  My hubby looked a bit nervous because it was his first time, so I said he could go last out of us three.
The leader took off and I made sure to be right on his heels..  He glanced behind with a shocked expression and gave it the gas.  It was loads of fun!  Lots of hills and hairpin turns..  Apparently my husband almost flipped his over a couple times... till he learned to ease off the gas on the turns :)
We had a nice coating of dirt by the end of it, but it was fun.

Next time I'll vote for ATV'ing unless the horses aren't pregnant :)

Laptop Woes

 source

My hangul (Korean) lessons are suffering..

I have (had) a program on my laptop that helps with learning pronunciation and sentence structure, but I had to put my laptop in for repairs about 3 weeks ago.  And here I wait...

There is more to the story.  In fact, it has turned out to be a fiasco with the repair.  My laptop was ready for pickup after a week and I refused to pick it up because it had a large crack down the center and the side was gouged.  Needless to say, I did not want to take it home in that condition.  It was sent back for assessment, after which I received a phone call stating that the bill would be $288 for a new cover.  I had to explain my situation seeing as there was no documentation for the poor girl on the phone to go by.
Anyway, to make a long story short, she's calling the store today for me and will tell them that if the laptop was damaged anytime between when I dropped it off and came to pick it up, then they are responsible.

*fingers crossed!*

The Preciousness of RICE

I've been watching Muhan Dojeon lately (as some of you know).  The last couple episodes that I've seen have gone over a 1 year project that the cast had been involved in.

They apparently rented a farmer's field, planted rice plants, and harvested them in the fall.  Afterward, they packaged it and donated it.  Isn't that nice!

After watching these episodes, all I can say is that from now on I will treat every grain of rice as precious.  A LOT of work goes into rice farming, and each plant does not have that much rice on it!

An old Korean proverb is...
"You need to know the preciousness of rice, in order to raise your children well."

I believe it!

Coolest little dog ever!

This made me chuckle :)

 

source